Coffee Ground Cake

This is perhaps a story that you might have had to have experienced to truly enjoy, but to me it is a story that will be told for all times. My friend Kat told me her part of this story as we drove down the highway at 120km/hr. I really should have pulled over because I laughed so hard that I cried; and I could barely keep my eyes on the road. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in my life.


A bit of a background...

Not to be overly modest, but I have the recipe for the best chocolate cake ever. It's to die for, and everybody who has sampled it agrees. The trick with this cake is not in the making of it; but in finding a spring form pan that fits inside your slow cooker, where it's cooked. It's flour-less, and is almost like a very rich, very thick and creamy mousse. It's made with good quality dark chocolate, and Kahlua and coffee. Decadent barely begins to describe it.

About a year ago, Kat - who I wish lived a lot closer to me than she does - had come for a visit. We went shopping, and when we came upon a spring form pan that was 6" in diameter, I handed it to her and told her she had to buy it. I think it's a reflection of our friendship that she did so with no questions asked.

Later that night, after we'd gone to a late show, we'd just been served our (very) late dinner of nachos at the Toad & Turtle. Kat asked me what the pan was for, and I told her about the cake. We decided then and there to abandon our nachos, and we headed off to get the ingredients at the only grocery store that was still open. We stayed up half the night, making this cake; but we held strong and went to bed without sampling when it was finally done.

The next morning I sent the entire cake and the recipe home with Kat. This was a blatant attempt at bribing her husband, so that he wouldn't object our having another weekend together again soon. She served it to the family, and reported back that the cake is, in fact, just That good.

Not long after that, Kat's parents were to arrive at their place for a visit. Kat wanted to impress them, so cooked an elaborate dinner that was followed by the Best Chocolate Cake.

I can just picture her now, proudly slicing up and dishing out the cake, then sitting down to watch as everybody took their first bite.

She was expecting a look of shock upon first bite - the cake's really that good - but I don't think she expected the sort of shock that she saw. Nor did she expect people to chew quite so much. They chewed, and they chewed, and they chewed.

Something was definitely wrong. Kat took a bite, herself, and discovered that the smooth mousse cake was actually really gritty. That's when she realized her mistake.

It seems that she'd been a little too literal when the recipe told her to use a cup of strong coffee. Rather than brewing very strong coffee and using that, Kat had mixed a cup of coffee grinds into the batter.